Is very interesting this technique and I use frequently. Every time with my demos, at the same time I offer the lecture but at the end, I use the quick questions, sometimes verbal some times in writing and is great the respond, of the students. They start to use this like a guide for test. Work well!
Question: Do (KWL) Know-Wonder-Learn charts count as CATs or are they a separate type of evaluation. I have had limited success with these, but keep thinking there must be a better way to utilize them. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kathy
Hi Betty - Thanks for your post to the forum. I agree- CATs are a really valuable source of feedback for instructor and students. Best wishes!
Susan
Q: How can you incorporate these techniques into your teaching and how can you use them to give feedback to your students?
A: 1)During the last few minutes of the class period,I ask students to answer on a half-sheet of paper: "What is the most important point you learned today?"; and, "What point remains least clear to you?". The purpose is to elicit data about students' comprehension of a particular class session.
2)Ask students to write a layman’s "translation" of something they have just learned -- geared to a specified individual or audience -- to assess their ability to comprehend and transfer concepts.
3)After teaching about an important theory, principle, or procedure, I ask students to write down at least one real-world application for what they have just learned to determine how well they can transfer their learning.
These CAT's are a wonderful way to monitor my ability to get and hold the attention of my students. It can help the students to monitor their learning styles and how they can improve or alter their learning style.
Hi Vicki - Thanks for your post to the forum.Although you didn't elaborate on the questions that you ask at the beginning and then at the end of the class, I like the idea! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I think these techniques are very important and help the students as well as the instuctor. At the beginning of the first class I ask students to answer two questions and hand them in. During our last class together I hand back these papers so the students can revisit their answers. The students response to this is always interesting in light of their learning experience in the class. It helps them to see what knowledge they have acquired.
by using them all through the learning classes to avoid boring lessons
It is a time where the instructor can see how much information the students have successfully processed or become a time where the instructor can bridge some gabs for the students. Its an excellent way to begin the next class period and stay on track with your lesson plan.
What a great idea. Students often say they really know what they know when they try to teach it to someone else. This strategy lets them try teaching, a really important job skill as well.
In my hands-on massage therapy classes, I try to quiz them on each area on the body and then as a whole.
CATs are very helpful, I ask questions to try to understand what areas they are interested the most
Hi Linda - Great ideas here! The students give you immediate feedback as well as themselves. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi Kyle - Thanks for your post to the forum. Reviewing concepts as students are applying them in labs is an excellent idea! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I like to assess the students when we are in lab classes. When showing the students the hands on part of the class, I find it a good time to review with them everything that was discussed and how it will relate with what we will be doing.
I present several topics and handout an in-class exercise that deals with these topics. Students work individually or in small groups of 3 or less to complete the exercise. We then come back together as a class and the exercise is corrected, each student correcting their own paper. This helps reinforce the topics that were lectured on in the class.
By, Edwardo Mojena
I feel that assessing students early at the start of class you can get a better feel of what type of knowledge is coming aboard your classroom.
Hi Williams - Taking frequent "Snapshots" of where your students are is excellent. It decreases the chances that they are not understanding concepts that we are trying to build on. Best wishes - Susan
In my class I try to stop at certain point in my delivery and ask the class to take a quick quiz. Though this quiz is not graded it unable me to get a feedback from my students on the content delivered. This enables me to find out if the class understood what I taught them.
Have found simple, short, follow-up content knowledge assessment after each objective is an good positive reinforcement for students. They are available within 2 days of the final lesson.
Gives the student as well as the instructor instant feedback
